The Kennedy Center’s new artistic director was pressing for more authority over the institution months before he formally got the job, according to newly revealed emails.
New emails provided to the Washington Post by the office of Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) show Rick Canny, an entertainment-industry veteran who has advised Kennedy Center leadership since April 2025, was already deeply involved in the center's operations before he was named artistic director – and he sought even more control.
The center amended its deal with Canny’s company to tap him as artistic director “in a designated executive consulting capacity,” instead of bringing him on as an employee, and while it didn't disclose his pay, an internal job posting for the role listed a salary range of $270,000 to $290,000.
In a March 30 email to Donna Arduin, then the center’s chief financial officer, Canny said he had spent nearly a year working on a proposed Ticketmaster agreement. He said he had shaped “many or most of the terms of the deal," and he also said he expected to run marketing during the renovations and wanted to drop lower-priority offerings like podcasts and book signings.
“We need to stop ‘short order cooking’ and get to the renovations,” Canny wrote. “We don’t need passion projects. This is business.”
Canny suggested he could take over much of executive director Matt Floca’s workload, on one condition.
“I can take so much off his shoulders and his plate,” Canny wrote. “But he needs to empower me.”
Five days earlier, general counsel Elliot Berke had told staff: “Please continue to work with Rick Canny on the various open projects and anything proposed moving forward.”
In his email, Canny also complained that the center lacked experienced staff in Broadway, dance, ticketing, marketing and publicity. The center had dismissed senior employees in some of those areas the year before. He also took credit for the plan to move the Kennedy Center Honors to Capital One Arena, which the center has since announced.
Canny takes over at an unusual moment. The center’s main building is closed over what Floca has called life-safety concerns, and renovations are expected to last about two years.
Revenue has collapsed since the board voted in December to add Trump’s name to the building. By May, officials projected bringing in just $124 million of the $220 million they had budgeted.
The center also recently laid off about 20 box office workers as it prepares to switch to Ticketmaster, the Post reported.
“Regardless of building closure timelines, the Center must continue to curate programming during infrastructure upgrades and deliver a commanding reopening season that brings audiences back and puts the Center on stable financial footing,” a center spokesman said.
Canny did not respond to the Post’s request for comment.